Star Trek Terror Hunter
by Starfire Dream
Summary: The crew of the Enterprise encounter two hitherto unknown species with different telepathic abilities. This takes place during the 2nd 5-year mission.
1. Prologue

**Star Trek; Terror Hunter**

**Prologue**

~/\~**

* * *

  
**

Vass nodded at the High Priest. He was ready to begin the Search. Tavuss raised his staff, closed his eyes and began the piercing cry which would send Vass' mind-waves off this now used up world to find new life for their people to feed on.

Vass was a revered Searcher. He could sense new worlds and direct his people to them with far more accuracy than Ress, his predecessor, had achieved. Because of this, he had been allowed to choose a mate, and if this Search was successful, he would be given permission to breed with her.

Vass stared in to the dull red sun until he was blind to all else. As he succumbed to the magnetic pull of the light his silver eyes reflected the red light. The Searcher felt the inner membranes of his eyes shut. All parts of his conscious mind were seeped with red, the color of relaxation. He dug his claws into the soft ground as he pulled from the locked away part of his mind the image he would project.

The red color in his own mind blocked the frightful picture. This image of absolute horror caused panic in any mind it touched. That fear acted like a beacon and fixed on it, Vass would be able to guide the Mind Devourers to their next victims. Vass had never seen the image he projected, his mind protected itself and those of his species in a way they did not understand - only accept as a gift from the Great Spirit.

Tavuss changed the pitch of his scream, and all the gathered Mind Devourers screeched quietly in a lower, softer tone. Tavuss kept his eyes on the Searcher, reading his body language for the cue for his next step in the ritual. Vass stretched his neck and spread his great cream wings. He alone made no sound. The Searcher threw his head back, his curved beak opened to show his blue tongue. Tavuss cut off his cry.

The Searcher's head snapped forward and from deep in his chest a loud, shrill scream, unlike the sound any other Mind Devourer made, broke forth and swept across the attentive people. Tavuss bobbed his head in approval - the mind-waves would travel far on that cry. He gave the three-pitched screech which closed the ceremony for the onlookers. Silently they walked away, heads kept low. Not one looked back.

Tavuss settled himself on the bed of leaves that had been set up for him. He would nap now, and then later when Vass returned to himself he would be rested for the trials of moving the entire species to the next world. The High Priest tucked his nearly bald head under a wing which was loosing feathers due to old age, and slept.

Vass had thrown the Search-image as far as he could, and now he guided it in twisting turning patterns in the empty space. At the same time, he opened his mind to the reception of fear. For a long time there was nothing. Vass lost all feeling for time on a Search - he just existed in limbo, not even aware of that. To an observer he stood like a statue for as many planet cycles t took to find their next destination.

Fear hit him like a rock falling from the sky. The impact made him stagger on his cramped legs. Having regained his balance, he carefully probed for the bearing and then cawed loud and long in triumph. This was followed by the intricate navigational instructions, which he repeated five times. The fifth time he repeated them, four other voices joined in. These were the Navigators whose minds were programmed not to forget these guides. They would not speak until their destination was reached.

Tavuss herded his people onto the large vessel. The Navigators took their elevated places and in their midst, the statue-like Vass stood - still in contact with the fear that guided them. Although the navigators had the basic instructions, without the Searcher to pinpoint exactly where their new nourishment was, the Mind Devourers would perish. Vass was cared for better than most young on their flight.

The fear grew stronger and Vass called new directions as he felt them. The Searcher became agitated, as the fear was returned to his mind in ever greater waves. Whatever species lived on this world, there were many and all would feed for years to come. This information was passed to the High Priest in a number of low calls than the others did not know the meaning of. But Tavuss could not disguise his satisfaction. He strutted round the bridge of their vessel puffing his chest out, as if it were he who had led them to this abundance.

They landed safely on the new world. The Explorers were sent out. They would make sure the Mind Devourers made the physical adaptations necessary to live on this planet. Experience had told this species that anywhere sentient beings lived who responded to the Searcher was generally safe for them, but minor changes to their metabolism was usually required.

As was the case on this world. The Explorers made the adaptations to the correct genes and then replaced the old genes with the new ones. Genetically all Mind Devourers were virtually identical because of this mass manipulation. Their minds differed according to which position they held. Once the calling had made itself known the people led predestined lives. Some were never woken to their calling. Females had no calling. Only those called could mate, and only the exceptional called could breed.

The Searcher was the last to be genetically changed. First he had to be brought out of his Seach-trance. The High-Priest chanted the wakening call quietly, walking round Vass and shaking his staff over him in intricate patterns. First Vass' head drooped to his chest, then the inner membranes slid out of sight to reveal silver eyes. The red was gone.

The Searcher asked the ritual question: „You have found them?" To which the High-Priest replied: „Your Search was true." An Explorer approached and quickly exchanged the manipulated genes. Vass flapped his wings and shook all four legs, loosening the tight muscles. His mate approached proudly, and they grappled with their front legs, being careful of the two large claws on each front paw.

The vessel was opened and the Mind Devourers emerged proudly, looking round at their new homeworld. Heads went back, scenting and calls of satisfaction soon filled the air. The Hunters were sent out and soon returned carrying various species, all showing signs of deep fear. The High-Priest called for the Great Spirit to bless the new world and then laid his front paws along the head of the first victim.

His large claws flexed wide and then curled to grip the skull. His victim cried out in fear and as the sentiment flooded over his people, the High-Priest screeched sharply and with a quick movement the claws buried themselves deep into the being's brain. The creature writhed and screamed and the Mind Devourers soaked up the fear. Later they would feast on the brans of their victims, leaving the flesh to rot. It was the fear which was their main nourishment.

After the first abundant feasting, Tavuss announced that Vass and his mate should be allowed to breed. All were in agreement and quickly a breeding place was prepared for the pair. A complicated public ritual took time which Vass suddenly felt he didn't have. All breeding instincts were usually genetically suppressed but this ritual woke them all with an urgency that almost frightened Vass.

Once he and his mate were alone in the privacy of the place prepared the Searcher lost control over his actions. He mounted his mate and driving his beak deep into her neck completed the mating in seconds. Their cries and screeches shook the trees and their flapping wings broke the lower branches off like twigs.

Dismayed Vass drew away from his bleeding mate. She clacked her beak angrily at him and wouldn't let him close, until the urge overtook them both again. The cycle repeated itself twelve times in all, and Vass' mate looked as if he had tried to kill her. He crawled away from her and huddled as miserably as she in one corner of the breeding place. Neither slept, not even resting their heads on their backs.

Vass approached his mate the next morning, crawling on his belly. She hissed and spat at him and for five days wouldn't allow him close, and then suddenly she was as playful as ever. The hunters brough food for them daily and fresh water ran next to their place. They were alone and could eat sleep and play to their heart's' content.

Vass' mate grew rounder and slower until one day she didn't want to play or eat. She lay panting, hissing at Vass whenever he approached. The young were born. Six of them. They were born with their silver eyes and beaks open, and their front claws extended. Their birth killed Vass' mate and all six turned on their mother and devoured her brain.

The Searcher watched at first with horror but then as his fathering instinct took over with detatchment as his mate's life ended. He gathered the little cannibals under his wings and protected their first sleep.

He taught them in seclusion for the first year of their lives, before presenting them to the High-Priest and the rest of his people. Three were female, three were male and all the males had a calling. There were no other young. The Searcher led a quiet life until the High-Priest informed him he was to take another mate. She was to help him with his young and once they had left the nest, then Vass should breed again.

The abundance on this world was so great, that Vass mated four times and bred four times before he needed to make another Search. Now he was older, his power was fading, and he knew this would be his last Search. He was teaching one of his first young how to control the Search-image, but the youngster, Tiss, was impatient.

Vass nodded at the High-Priest. He was ready to begin the Search. Tamuss, the new High-Priest, raised his staff, closed his eyes and began the piercing cry which would send Vass' mind-waves off this now used up world to find new life for their people to feed on. Vass projected the fearful image.

There was a faint, very faint flicker of fear which lasted just as long as it took to blink, and then there was nothing. Vass' mind probed long to recapture the fear, but unsuccessful he had to change the direction of his projection. He was not conscious of it, as much as he as not aware that Tiss was throwing his image out too. The Search was long and hard, but finally he was able to make the call of Finding.

* * *

.

.

* * *

The child woke. Something has brushed his mind. He listened - with the furry receptacles on the top of his head, as well as with his mind. The whisper was faint, almost a tickling in his mind, and made the hairs on his neck stand up. He didn't recognize the thought pattern. But who other than his family would want to make contact with him?

Tense with a sudden unease he sat up on his sleeping mat. His keen, tawny eyes searched the cave. He could see the sleeping forms of his closest family, and his sharp nose told him all were alive. Carefully, because he knew now that it was the worst thing he could do now he was eight cycles of age, he reached out with his mind and brushed the sleeping minds with his in a child's greeting.

All three adult minds projected peace, safety and a faint reprimand for his intrusion. The two babies' minds were blanketed by their mother's, and his birth sibling had his shielding up even in his sleep. Two of other youngsters' minds were carefully blanked, which meant they too had felt his probing, and the other pair of twins had entwined their minds too deeply for his to intrude.

Feeling reassured against the fear which had woken him, the child lay down again. Briefly his thoughts dwelled on the punishment for his infraction of the rules. His mother's mind reached out and comforted him as she had done since his birth. He let her guide him back to sleep. He accepted her mind join with his and safe in the knowledge that she was shielding him from the unpleasantness he had felt he closed his eyes and slept.

His mother withdrew from his mind. The parting, almost as painful as the first time, woke him. His mental cry of pain woke the entire cave. The babies squealed in sympathy with his pain, and his father growled in anger. Once he had established what was happening, he soundly cuffed the child who cowered before him. Punishment meted out, he stalked out of the cave still growling.

His mother carefully washed the welts and crooned a soothing lullaby. Her son's sobs quietened and the babies also stopped crying. „Go greet the day and then return for food", she told the children. The six older ones ran out, and she carried her babies outside, held them up to the new sun and removed their soiled wrappings. They laughed as she washed them and soon all were back in the cave.

She helped her co-mate, who was the first mate of their husband and therefore the senior woman in the cave, prepare the morning gruel. Their husband strode back in and sat on his sitting stone, expecting his food to be ready. The child he had cuffed eyed him warily and the other children kept an unusual distance. They were uncharacteristically quiet.

„What is the first rule of the cave?" The man's voice rumbled. „Privacy", the boy muttered. „It is not polite to intrude in other minds, especially not during sleep." The culprit's face flushed and he studied the floor. „However your mother tells me you were frightened by something." The boy nodded. „Show me!"

The boy stared blankly at his father and opened his mind for the probing. There was none. „Show me!" the father ordered again and the child understood. He was to send to his father, something he had never done yet. He concentrated hard so as to only project the faint images to the man, and also not to succumb to the temptation to feel out for any reaction. The fear returned and at once he felt his father's comforting presence. There would be no punishment for what he'd done in the night. The cuffing was deserved for his lack of control. There was peace in the cave.

Once they had eaten the children were allowed to run free. The boy and his twin brother practiced their shielding. Together they were strong against their elder brother and sister, but alone they were too weak to withstand even their first level probing.

Children from other caves came out and soon they were playing as youngsters do without a care in the world. Lessons would continue once they had used up some of their abundant energy and childlike they drew out the moment for as long as possible.

The life of these cave dwellers was peaceful and full of harmony. They had no enemies and even bickering among each other was almost unknown. They kept herds of animals for meat, milk, and clothing. They planted crops of vegetables and corns. They gathered berries, nuts and fruits. They were skilled tool-makers and great story-tellers. And they used fire for comfort as well as for cooking.

The cave-dwellers walked on two legs. They stood at full maturity five feet and six inches tall. Children grew rapidly to four feet in their first three cycles and then stayed that height until they became adults when they shot up within three months. They spoke with a complex language, accompanied by a full sign language for hunting and play. And they communicated from mind to mind.

Their legs were sinuous and covered in a fine pelt. Their feet were flat, elongated, covered in sparse hair and flexible. The toenails of the big toes were thick and strong and grew into a long point which was used as a climbing aid. The torso was slim and sinuous and could be contorted into almost any angle. It too was covered in hair, not close enough to hide the brown skin completely. The neck was short, not very muscular but flexible, turning 270 degrees with ease. The head was round with two pointed and again flexible furry ears mounted on the top. Hair grew abundantly from the head and hung in a thick curled mass halfway between the shoulders and the waist.

The face and was clear of hair growth and the features were heavy. Large tawny eyes with slit pupils were covered by an inner and an outer eyelid which moved independently of each other. The nose was hardly raised from the face and the tip pushed up to form a flat snout, the nostrils of which could be flared or closed completely as needed. The mouth was small. The six front middle teeth, top and bottom were small and sharply pointed. Then there were three large jagged teeth on either side and at the back of the jaw each person had four molars to each side, top and bottom.

The shoulders were narrow and the arms short in comparison to the rest of the body. At the end of the arms there were hands which had three fingers and a fourth opposing digit, enabling the people to grasp and manipulate. The fingers were protected by short, pointed nails which could be extended to become claws to aid in climbing or slitting something open. These people did not have much use for knives. The arms were covered in the same pelt at the legs and the hands had sparse, wiry hair.

The hair growth was the same on the children and adults, the main variation being the length of the head hair and the coloring which ranged from white over silver to black, including many shaded of reds, yellows and browns. Some were striped; some had patches of one or more colors. Also the children had the full set of teeth and the strong climbing claw.

All the adults wore simple tunics of finely cured leather, the children ran round naked as long as the warm season lasted. When the snows came they too were kept warm by thick tunics which still had the fur worn on the inside. The people slept on woven grass mats laid over piles of springy roots. They had pelts on each sleeping place which could either be used as covers or as in most cases to make a soft, warm nest.

Each cave was excavated into the ground. This group of dwellings was relatively new. This group had split off from their larger communities and formed one of their own, as there had been no more room to build more caves. Contact between the new village and their origins were frequent, and both parties monitored each other by means of mental projections.

The family units consisted of a male and one to four females and their offspring. Children were born in pairs, more usual was a female and a male child together, but it sometimes happened that two of the same sex were born at the same time. This was regarded as a good omen, especially if the babies were male. A female gave birth perhaps four times in her life, rarely five, as each pair of babies was intensely cared for during their first six cycles and at eight cycles the mental protection was slowly withdrawn, finally at fourteen cycles the people were adult.

The people called themselves Peace-Lovers. They knew from their story-tellers that there was such a thing as battle and bloodshed but not one of those living at this time had seen it with their own eyes. It was their second greatest nightmare. The greatest being mind influence - and this they feared even from their cave-mates.

The day passed in its usual way - and as the sun went down they gathered round the cooking fires and shared in the hot loaves and broiled meat. In the hot ash, wrapped in large leaves, edible roots baked and there were basketfuls of berries and nuts. They drank clear water. A scuffle amongst the children broke out. Adults hastened to break it up before they drew blood with their sharp claws and teeth.

The eldest female called all the children round her and they settled cracking nuts and listening to her stories. One by one they fell asleep, curled up together in a muddle of arms and legs. Once the children slept, the eldest man told the adults the stories of warning - about distance worlds and peoples who hunted the Peace-Lovers, killing for the manes and the foot-claws.

The father of the child who had felt the fear told his clan about what he had read in his child's mind. The elder invited him to share the image and after some hesitation he did. It struck a chord of instinctive memory in the elder and he shuddered. „I must go to the conference of elders and tell them about this. I must share directly with the second child of your second mate. Will you allow this?" Both mother and father nodded, serious.

The mother went and sought out the child, waking him gently through their mind-link. He crawled out of the tangle of children and asked what she wanted through the open mind-channel. Using her voice, she told him that the elder wanted to speak with him.

Subdued the child followed his mother back to the adults. The elder explained what he wanted and the child opened his mind. The elder was skilled at this, far more practiced than the child's father, and he saw the full image that the child had not even grasped. The elder recoiled and the child whimpered as the full extent of the terrible fear engulfed him.

For many years to come the male child, second of two, would be disturbed by dark dreams that none of his clan had. He was more skilled at fading into the undergrowth, he walked the most silent, he was an exceptional hunter with the keenest eyes, nose and ears of all the people. His shielding was stronger than even the elders' - to the extent that he could shut off even his life-vibrations. And he was jumpy. If somebody did surprise him he would attack, spitting and snarling, his claws extended to do real damage. It took three to subdue him and only his birth mate could reach him through the strong shield at those times.

They had used this world up. The High-Priest called the Searcher. Tiss was sure of himself. He had kept the direction of that faint whisper of the last Search in his mind. He was sure he was a stronger Searcher that Vass had been. Vass had lost that flicker of fear, but Tiss hadn't. It had been suddenly cut off, but over the first planet cycles here, he had felt it every now and again.

Tiss nodded to Tamuss who raised his staff. The High Priest closed his eyes and began the piercing cry which started the Search. Tiss projected the image in the direction the whispers had come from. He sought the familiar thought pattern of the one who had received the image before. Other mind received him and sent the beacon of terror back to him, but he continued to search for that one mind.

He was about to give up - he had had many answers and they would feed well for many years to come - when the scream of terror echoed in his mind. Tiss sent a stronger signal while at the same time he compared the thought patterns to those in his memory. Yes, they were the same. He threw his head back and let forth the cry of the successful Search.

The Mind-Devourers readied themselves for departure. The Searcher sent wave after wave towards the source of this great fear and felt a distinct pleasure in the returning fear. It was such a strong guiding beam that when it was cut off abruptly he felt the traces in his mind and finally brought his people to their new homeworld.

He was sixteen cycles and had found no mate. He slept still in his parents' cave. In sleep even his barrier was up at its strongest. But this night he was suffering from fever caused by a deep cut he received when he had misjudged the distance between two branches and fallen to the ground, cutting his leg on a broken and protruding branch. He had been given a sleeping medicine. He slept deeply and all his mind-barriers were down.

The terror struck hard. The sleeping medicine made it impossible for him to wake up or regain control of his shielding. The fear kept his heartbeat and temperature high and the elder did not dare to give less of the medicine out of the need to protect the rest of the people from the uncontrolled thoughts projected during fever.

His mother had recently given birth to her fourth pair of babies but she still found the strength to monitor her grown son every once in a while, because she always worried about him after his childhood experience. On his fifth day of unbroken fever she woke suddenly, feeling his call. Carefully shielding the babies, she reached out. She felt the effort with which her son fought against the influence of the medicine and the overwhelming fear to request that the drug no longer be given to him. The elder took a lot of persuading and it was only after seeking the request in her mind that he agreed. The adults built up a shield for all the young and by the evening they were exhausted fighting off the fear, until then unknown to their entire people.

Suddenly the battering stopped. The mother and his birth-mate felt the wrench as his shielding went up and the male ceased to exist in their conscience once again. Gently the shielding round the young was lifted and it seemed as if life went on as normal.

Only the male was changed. His fever left and his leg healed. He prowled the edge of the village ceaselessly, as time progressed night and day. He left his home for days, no one seeing him at all. When he returned he was agitated and asked for a gathering.

He told them strange beings had come from the sky and were killing the Peace-Lovers. That these beings were the source of his terror. That they could project images from far distances. That the images caused fear and that the fear was used to hunt down the people and feed off them.


	2. Chapter one

**I do not own Star Trek. Many thanks go to the 'great bird in the sky' for creating Star Trek and the memorable and beloved characters**.

**Chapter 1**

Captain James T. Kirk opened his eyes and stretched luxuriously. His sleep had been uninterrupted and no alarm had been set to wake him. Dr McCoy had overridden the computer's standing waking orders, very much against the younger man's arguments. The various bruises and freshly healed cuts protested at his movement. Ignoring the not inconsiderable pain, Kirk sat up and swung his legs off his bunk. He rested a moment rubbing the sleep from his face and he yawned again.

„Computer, date and time", he requested.

„Stardate 6251.2, ship's time 1030 hours."

His jaw snapped shut mid-yawn. „What?" he exclaimed in a loud voice. The computer, as programmed, patiently repeated its information.

„I don't believe it!" he mumbled. „Status!" he managed to say crisply.

„Ship is running on skeleton crew. All systems functioning normally." So what was the rest of his crew doing? The captain decided to investigate.

He pulled on a neatly pressed uniform, slicked back his hair and grinned at his reflection. He did look a lot better than the last glimpse he had had of himself - in fact he could hardly remember when he had last looked so rested. Not surprising, he thought, considering how long he had slept.

The doors to his cabin slid apart and he stepped through - or rather he tried. Standing in his way was the ship's doctor.

„Where do you think you are going, Sir?" he snapped.

Kirk opened his mouth to answer when he realized McCoy was only asking rhetorically.

Without giving him a chance to reply the older man had added: „I meant it when I said bed-rest!"

„Which you ensured I got", the captain grinned.

„Too right!" McCoy was still angry.

The captain put his head on one side. „So what did you slip me?"

The doctor sensed the underlying anger in the quiet tone.

„I don't know what you are talking about!" The doctor's face was just slightly flushed.

„C'mon, Bones!I just slept thirty-two hours without stirring." The blue and hazel eyes met. Neither gave an inch.

„And how do you feel?" Leonard McCoy asked, all medical man.

„Rested." Jim Kirk could be just as obstructive as his friend. „Fit for duty", he added, challengingly.

„That's for me to say!" The triumph in the doctor's voice was unmistakable. „Sickbay, Jim!" Kirk sighed and reluctantly accompanied his friend to what he privately thought of as a torture chamber.

„Good morning, captain", Nurse Chapel greeted him. He nodded at her. McCoy patted a diagnostics bed.

„Hop up here, Jim!" The younger man scowled - but he had no choice. The doctor didn't miss the wince as Jim heaved himself onto the hard bed, but he pretended to ignore it, just as the captain ignored the concerned look the older man gave him.

Jim lay impatiently while his doctor studied the read-outs and made „Mmm" noises with a serious face. At one point he shook his head. Kirk couldn't contain himself any longer.

„Well?" he prompted.

„How are those bruises, Jim?"

„What bruises?"

McCoy poked him. „That one and that one, for starters."

The captain winced and grinned boyishly. „Ouch?"

„I thought so. Take your shirt off - I want to look at those cuts."

„Fuss, fuss, fuss", Kirk muttered. The doctor prodded his bare torso some more and smiled in satisfaction as his reluctant patient winced.

„All right, Bones, you've made your point!" Kirk's patience was running out fast.

„You should take things easy for a couple of days. Even your body needs time to heal."

„I'm fine." The idea of resting up horrified the dynamic man.

„Well seeing as there is no red alert - right now - I suppose I could pass you fit for light duties - like that stack of paperwork I noticed on your desk." Jim groaned. „Doctor's orders!" McCoy grinned. „I'm not allowing you back on that bridge until you've dealt with it. - Some of it could be important."

They locked eyes - and Jim knew that McCoy meant exactly what he said. Raising his hands in defeat, he muttered: „Okay, okay!" The doctor raised an eyebrow but said nothing as his captain slid gingerly off the bed and pulled his tunic back on.

Kirk paused in the door, looked back and asked: „Do I at least get breakfast before I start?"

„Of course, I'm not a monster!" The captain remained silent, but the look he sent his friend spoke volumes. Then he shrugged and strode stiffly towards the nearest turbo-lift.

He entered the mess-hall which was surprisingly full for this time of day. As he made his way to the food synthesizers, he was aware that the subdued babble of voices faded to silence. When he ordered his coffee and toast, his voice sounded loud in his own ears. He turned to face his crew, breakfast tray in hands and was uncharacteristically abashed at the broad grins that greeted him. Somebody started the clapping, and his cheeks pinkened at the sudden applause.

Then as suddenly as it had begun the applause stopped at the crew came to their feet at attention as a man. Kirk found his voice. Huskily he said: „As you were. - And thank you."

The adoration in which his crew held him never ceased to move him, as well as make him aware of the responsibility to live up to their expectations. The babble resumed again, this time the usual excited buzz he was used to hearing.

The captain settled in a quiet corner and munched his toast. He wouldn't have admitted it to anybody, but the brief amount of time he had been up so far had pretty much exhausted him. He drank the coffee, and grimaced. He had almost forgotten how bad this stuff tasted in comparison to the real coffee his yeoman brought him.

Most eyes followed the captain as he left the mess hall and as gatherings broke up as people went about their business there was an atmosphere of purpose that had been lacking ever since the captains unconscious form had been brought back to his ship. Within an hour of Kirk's appearance, the whole ship knew that their commander was back on his feet, with the exception of the bridge crew.

That was rectified as the captain's yeoman stepped through the doors and started to pull reports from the captain's conn onto her conn-padd. Spock looked up from the science screen where he was monitoring an experiment taking place in the science lab. He stifled the question that sprang to his lips - asking what she was doing was illogical.

Janice Rand looked up and met the first officer's dark eyes. He had raised a querying eyebrow - the closest he would get to enquiring her business, she knew. She smiled at him. Spock dropped the eyebrow and went back to his monitor. Yeoman Rand realized that the bridge crew hadn't yet been informed of the latest developments. They all looked glum, even Uhura who was usually so cheerful. Loud enough for all to hear, she said:

„Captain Kirk was seen in the mess hall an hour ago."

The results were electrifying. Uhura straightened and her lips curved in a warm smile. Sulu swung round to grin at Chekov who whooped and then ducked his head in embarrassment, his eyes sliding sideways to the figure in blue still bent over the monitor. Spock felt a flash of relief - and stamped it down hard. He waited a moment before straightening and saying calmly:

„That is - gratifying to know, yeoman. However, Mister Chekov, the state of the captain's health does not require you to make such a display."

„No, sir." The navigator risked an open look at his superior officer. Was he imagining it, or had Spock's face lost some of the tension everybody had noted since the incident five days ago when he had carried the injured captain off the shuttlecraft and to sickbay? Uhura exchanged a look with Sulu.

Uhura said carefully: „Mister Chekov was just expressing our pleasure at the captain's recovery. - After all, Mister Spock, we are only human."

„That is so, Lieutenant", Spock said gravely, but the communications officer was sure she saw a flash of the same sentiment in his eyes.

It was an open secret on board the Enterprise, that Spock did have emotions, for all he denied them, and that over the years he had developed a closeness to both his captain and the ship's doctor that the humans could only define as a affectionate friendship. None of the three men ever referred to it in any way and the rest of the crew took it as a fact of their existence. Only new crew members might make a remark about it, but soon the strangeness wore off.

None of the senior officers were surprised when Spock left the bridge after a few minutes, leaving Sulu at the conn. They didn't need to comment on it, and they all knew without being told, that the first officer would now be heading towards the captain's cabin. Sulu touched a few buttons and the view from the main screen changed.

„Pavel, plot a course round those three yellow stars on the right, but no sudden moves to alert Scotty." Chekov grinned. If Hikaru was ready to take up the game of wits against the engineer, things were back to normal. Uhura shook her head.

„I'm the one who gets the earful!" she complained good-naturedly, and turned down the volume for the direct link to engineering in preparation for the Scotsman's outburst.

Spock knocked on Kirk's door.

„Come in!" The door slid to one side and allowed the first officer to enter. The cabin was warmer than usual. The Vulcan's face remained impassive, but his eyes narrowed as he studied the man sat at the desk.

„Don't look like that, Spock! I've had enough scrutiny from Bones to last me a good while!" Kirk waved a hand at the empty chair and Spock sat.

„I'll be right with you." The Vulcan inclined his head and watched as Kirk made a few notes on his conn-padd and then set it aside with a sigh. The captain looked weary. Spock leaned forward.

„Are you alright, Jim?" he asked. Here, alone, he could show his concern for his friend. Kirk nodded.

„I feel as if I was run over by a Horta." He met the dark eyes. „What happened down there? It's a blank."

„We beamed down into the middle of a planet tremor. You were hit by a falling rock as we materialized. The impact catapulted you into a fissure which had formed during our transport." Kirk shuddered.

„Who else was hurt?" „All the landing party sustained minor injuries."

„All?" The captain's eyes were suddenly alert as he ran them over his friend. Spock gave an almost imperceptible nod.

„Minor", he repeated softly.

Kirk shrugged. There were some things Spock still kept to himself.

„How did I get back aboard?" He did vaguely remember lying in pain, bleeding and unable to move a limb. Spock refused to give into his embarrassment. Matter-of-factly he told his friend that he had climbed down to the bottom of the fissure, carried the captain up strapped to his back, and then that they had been brought back by shuttle-craft.

The hazel eyes opposite him darkened. „Shuttle-craft?"

„Doctor McCoy felt beaming would be unwise as he did not know the extent of your injuries."

„That bad, huh?" The lack of reaction told the human more than Spock had intended. Softly James T. Kirk said:

„I owe you again, Spock. Thank you." A faint smile touched the corners of the austere mouth.

„I believe the correct response is: You are welcome."

„Did the science department get the data they wanted?" Kirk changed the subject slightly.

„Yes. The computer is making the calculations. The data is very - instructive."

„Well it was worth it then", Kirk murmured. The Vulcan looked quizzically at the stack of computer chips and then back at his friend. Weariness settled back onto Kirk's face.

„Bones is using his medical prerogative to get me to do my paperwork." The raised eyebrow prompted the explanation: „He won't pass me fit for duty until it's taken care of!"

Practice enabled Spock to hide the flash of amusement he felt. He knew as well as Kirk that Doctor McCoy would carry out his threat. But the captain wasn't finished:

„Somebody must have complained to him. - I'm still trying to work out who, but there's no clue in this lot!" He indicated the discs piled haphazardly on the far left of his desk.

There was a knock on the door.

„Who is it?" the captain asked.

„It's me, Jim!" „What do you want, Bones?"

„Let me in, dammit!"

„Temper, temper!" James Kirk was enjoying a bit of revenge.

„Jim!"

„Oh, all right. Come in!" The door opened to reveal McCoy and a bottle of Romulan ale.

„I should have known you'd be here!" he grumbled at Spock.

„Illogical", the Vulcan returned.

The doctor snorted. „Illogical, my foot! I'll bet my last credit you were down here the moment you heard he was up. - Which would mean you've been here fifteen minutes."

Neither the human or the Vulcan reacted. The blue eyes sparkled at the alien.

„So now you've reassured yourself that Jim is okay, its business as usual, is it?"

„I am here on ship's business, doctor." McCoy didn't miss a beat:

„You cold-blooded machine! Jim nearly dies, and you come to talk about ship's business!"

Spock raised an eyebrow.

„I am not a machine, and Vulcan's have warmer blood than humans, which would make you the cold-blooded one."

McCoy spluttered and was about to retaliate, when Kirk said:

„Cut it out, you two! I'm not up to it. - And there's no need to exaggerate, Bones. I got a little bit banged up. Not for the first time."

Wordlessly Leonard McCoy reached across the captain and brought a file up on screen. He turned the readout so Kirk could read it and folded his arms, still clutching the flask of ale. The younger man looked up at his friend and then studied the information. He swallowed twice before he found his voice:

„Isn't that a little melodramatic, Bones? I mean a four-hourly update because of a bit of concussion is going too far."

The doctor swung the captain's chair round. Sternly he said:

„Jim, you didn't just have concussion - you broke your skull, dammit! And five ribs, your collarbone and added to the damage in your knee. Posting a bulletin meant I could get at least some work done rather than answering the crew's enquiries. I'm a doctor, not a information bureau!"

Subdued Kirk shrugged. „Point taken."

„Until the next time. If it's not one of you brought back for good old Bones to put back together, it's the other! One day I won't be able to undo the damage - I nearly didn't this time! Just be more careful in the future! Why I gave up a quiet country practice I'll never know!"

Suddenly Kirk grinned. „I know - it was so you could get an unlimited supply of Romulan ale. - Have you brought that here to torture me, or were you intending on sharing it?"

McCoy scowled but he placed the flask on the desk at got three glasses off the shelf behind him.

„To you continuing health, Jim!" All three drank.

„The captain's health is ship's business, doctor", Spock said calmly.

The human looked abashed and quickly took another drink. Kirk hid a grin. One day he might actually get used to the pair of them winding each other up. They both enjoyed the battle of wits, and it was unusual for Spock to concede to McCoy as he had just done.

The three men finished their drinks and discussed some of the business the captain had been catching up on. Most of it was mundane stuff, and Kirk couldn't see what all the doctor's fuss was about. Finally the Vulcan stood up and excused himself citing bridge duty.

Kirk also rose and said: „I'll come with you."

The doctor snapped: „Oh no you won't! I meant it! If you even so much as stick your nose through the doors before I allow it, I'll have a security guard posted outside your door!"

Kirk sat again, but he sent a look that boded ill for his friend once he was back in command. Spock left, masking his amusement with his normal serenity. Jim was recovering. That was all he needed to know. No longer needing to fear the sudden severance of their unique link, the Vulcan cautiously opened his shielding to pick up the resonance which was James T. Kirk.

In his cabin, Kirk hesitated mid-sentence as he felt the warm presence return. He saw McCoy's sharp look and covered with a cough. Not even Leonard knew about the tenacious telepathic link he and Spock maintained. All of the Vulcan's being required this to be so. Kirk respected that. He wasn't so sure himself that he wanted Bones to know.

„Okay, so what's so special that I have to sift through piles of old information?" he asked, hoping to trick his friend into revealing what was going on. But the older man grinned and stood up.

„I'll leave you to find that out for yourself. - And Jim - make sure you get plenty of rest."

„Yes, Doctor."

Sulu punched the air in triumph.

„Pavel, tell Scotty he owes me ten credits!"

„I vill not! You tell him yourself!"

„Coward!" the helmsman teased.

Chekov scowled. „I don't see vy I should do your dirty vork!"

„Practice for when you take over as chief of security." „Qviet!" Chekov hissed. Sulu laughed and winked at Uhura.

„Will you tell him?"

„Why should I steal your moment of triumph?"

„I thought you two were my friends!" Sulu grumbled. He crossed to the communications panel and toggled the switch.

„Bridge to engineering."

„Engineering. Riley here."

„Kevin, is Scotty there?"

„No, he left here about three minutes ago, swearing in Gaelic."

„Thanks. Bridge out." Sulu's voice sounded doubtful. Pavel swallowed.

„Three minutes? That means he'll be here right -" He broke off as the doors parted to reveal the chief engineer. „-Now", he added and concentrated on the viewing screen.

„Mister Sulu, just what do you think you are doing?" Montgomery Scott bellowed.

„Flying a ship?"

„Dinna be fatuitous with me, boy!"

„No, sir!" Sulu straightened. The chief engineer out-ranked him, and in situations like this it was good policy to remember that.

„Of all the underhand, sneaky, spineless...!" Scott spluttered.

„Sir?" Sulu ventured.

„Dinna 'sir' me!"

Chekov looked guiltily at his friend. Had they damaged the engines with their little stunt? Even as the engineer took a deep breath to continue his tirade the doors wooshed again and the slim, tall figure of the first officer entered. He paused and asked:

„What is going on?" Chekov looked at Uhura and she shook her head.

„Mister Scott?" The engineer had himself under control again.

„Nothing's the matter, sir!" he said stiffly.

„Then for what reason are you on the bridge?"

„I was just going, sir."

Scotty stalked out and all three conspirators relaxed. Spock bent over his monitor and Sulu returned to his seat. Conversationally Spock's voice broke the silence:

„I see congratulations are in order, Mister Sulu, Mister Chekov." Both men tensed.

„Sir?" the helmsman ventured.

„Mister Scott has just transferred ten credits to each of your accounts." Both men flushed. They hadn't been aware that the first officer knew about their little bet.

„The Captain will be pleased."

„The keptin?" Chekov blanched.

„He had his money on you, this time." Spock said it stiffly, unused to the idiomatic expression, but wanting to relay his respect at their being able to outwit the engineer. Chekov groaned. Was there _anything_ that escaped the two senior officers' attention? A sideways glance at Sulu told the navigator that his friend was just as taken aback at that information. He refrained from twisting to look at Lieutenant Uhura.

The habit the bridge crew had of scanning any planet which appeared on their sensors had become so ingrained that Chekov wasn't even aware he ran the diagnostic program on the inert mass which appeared on his readout. Idly his eyes swept over the information. Nothing unusual for a planet without sentient life.

Suddenly he jerked upright. „Mister Spock - there is something here you should see!"

The first officer left his position and came to stand beside the young man. He had heard the suppressed excitement. He peered at the data and then said crisply: „Transfer to science station!"

The navigator complied. Sulu and Uhura also snapped to attention, the communications officer scanning more detailed patterns.

Sulu leaned over to his friend.

„What is it?" he whispered.

Spock's sharp ears heard him. „There appears to have been some form of natural disaster which caused the extinction of whatever race populated this planet."

There was no indication of the curiosity which had been woken in the deep voice.

„Increase to warp five, heading three-two-five and then initiate standard orbit Mister Sulu!"

„Aye, sir!"

„Mister Chekov, continue scanning."

„Aye, sir!" At least he now had something to do.

„Lieutenant Uhura -" „Scanning all frequencies, sir!" Silence returned to the bridge but it was a busy quiet. Until an irate voice squawked:

„Mister Sulu, what the divil are you playing at _now_?"

Spock crossed the space to Uhura's panel.

„Mister Sulu is following my orders, Mister Scott."

„Oh, aye, well that's alright then."

Even the chief engineer refrained from arguing his point with the first officer, however much he would have disputed with the captain.

„Kirk to Spock. What _is_ going on up there?"

There were three relieved chuckles.

„Mister Chekov has discovered something interesting." „I'll be right up."

„Sickbay to bridge. Spock, if Jim sets one foot on the bridge I'll clap him and you in irons! - What happened?"

„Nothing that concerns you, Doctor."

There was a short pause and then the testy voice informed the bridge that he would be right there. Sulu, Uhura and Chekov snickered. At last the monotony was relieved!

The captain stepped out of the turbo-lift and breathed in deeply. This was where he belonged! He made his way shakily to his chair and sat down.

„Report, Mister Spock." As his first officer filled him in, the doors wooshed open and McCoy stalked onto the bridge.

„Jim, get out of here!" he ordered, ignoring the rest of the crew. Kirk swung his chair round and stared at the doctor.

„I beg your pardon?"

His voice was very quiet, but there was a steely glint to his eye. Everybody froze in anticipation of another of their famous exchanges. Leonard McCoy swallowed. He knew, better than most, that Kirk could only be pushed so far before he exploded. Even he was not immune to blasts of the Kirk temper in full flow. And that was something that neither he or Jim needed right now.

„Alright. But afterwards you get back to your bed!"

Satisfied, Kirk nodded and swung back to Spock.

„Continue reporting." Spock suppressed anything but scientific curiosity as he picked up where he had been interrupted.

„Our maps show this planet as a class P planet. There is abundant vegetation but no sentient life. However, our sensors have picked up evidence of impulse drive signatures and disruptor traces. A more detailed scan has shown evidence of dwellings and some artifacts discarded nearby."

Spock decided the captain didn't need to know all the details - he wasn't in a fit state to deal with it all.

„Thank you, Spock. Kirk pushed himself out of his chair.

„You have the conn."

He fought to stay upright until he and McCoy were in the turbo-lift, then he sagged against the wall. He didn't protest when the doctor put an arm round him and helped him back to his bed. Before McCoy left, Kirk opened his eyes briefly:

„Go on, say it!"

„Say what?"

„I told you so!"

„Well I did - so what's the point in saying it? - Get some rest, Jim, you've a while to go yet." Kirk was asleep before the door closed.

Spock and Chekov completed their scanning and filed the data for future use. Sulu had taken the Enterprise out of orbit and set her on her way again. Their shift ended and once they had been relieved by their colleagues they headed to the mess-hall together to eat and discuss what had happened. They were joined by Scotty who wanted to know exactly why his 'bairns' had been put to the sudden stress.

Spock went to his cabin and finally allowed himself deep sleep. Even the Vulcan was feeling fatigued after several days without real rest. Meditation was relaxing, even invigorating, but no substitute. Even in sleep, something nagged at his conscience, but it would be several days later, after a chance remark of the captain's, that he would make the connection.

Kirk woke, feeling stronger. After checking the time with the ship's computer he acknowledged with a rue grimace that he had slept for another sixteen hours. He pushed the intercom button.

„Kirk to sickbay."

„Yes, Jim?" McCoy's voice was full of concern.

„What did you slip me, Bones?"

„This time? Nothing. - How long have you been up?"

„I just woke."

„I'm coming over right now!"

Kirk was still contemplating standing up when the door to his cabin opened - without his sayso.

„Have you over-ridden my commands?"

„On this door, yes." Even as he spoke, McCoy was running a scanner over the captain. „How do you feel?"

„How do you think I feel?" Kirk winced at the resentment in his voice. He took a deep breath and added: „Better than last time I got up. But I still feel as if a herd of buffalo ran over me."

„Buffalo?" „Old Iowa saying."

He eyed the hypo in the doctor's hand. „What's that?"

„A bit of this and a bit of that." McCoy pressed it against his patient's upper arm and Kirk winced as the cold liquid was projected into his vein.

„Well?"

„Mainly vitamins and something for that raging headache."

The captain rubbed his temples. „Is there anything those damned things can't discover?" he complained. The doctor just laughed.

„Come with me for some breakfast - something a bit more substantial than yesterday's. And I'll get yeoman Rand to bring us both some of that wonderful coffee she makes."

„Bones - am I going to shake this off?" McCoy's head snapped round.

„Of course! What makes you ask?"

„No reason."

But the doctor had scented a problem. „Jim!"

Kirk sighed. „I had this nightmare - only it didn't feel like a nightmare." He laughed shakily. „It was pretty scary to tell you the truth."

„Another parallel universe?"

„No - it was vaguer than that."

Awake properly and in a fresh uniform the captain stepped out of his quarters. His eyes widened slightly as he registered the red shirt of a security guard. The man snapped to attention at the same time and in a very apologetic voice began: „I'm sorry, sir. Doctor's orders are that you-"

„It's okay, Ensign Lewis. He's with me."

„Yes, sir."

„Fall in, Ensign! The ban on the bridge is still in force."

The security man followed them at a distance of three paces. In an angry whisper Kirk berated the doctor, who shrugged.

„You ignored my orders, Jim. I wasn't kidding, and you're still not fit for duty. The other solution is I confine you to sickbay."

Kirk scowled. „With you as my personal jailor? Forget it!"

McCoy winced. He had known the captain wasn't going to be happy - now he had to live with the fallout.


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

The male hid in an old cave. The images battering his mind were full of bloodshed and pain. He could no longer fight against the projection but he was still in control of his own mind waves. All round him he felt the terror of his people. The young were long gone. They had been easy prey, unable to shield their minds against receiving the fearful pictures they had been even less capable of stopping their terror signalling to the other-worlders.

Hidden the male had witnessed killings and been through the horror of watching his people be used as nourishment. His younger siblings were dead, the mate of his birth-mate and their young brutally slain. He had slipped away, unable to stand the destruction of his village. But here, a village he had never been near before, the outworlders had already been busy.

The male had stopped grooming himself. His tunic was in tatters and as he was no longer able to move so lithely he had suffered many more cuts and bruises. He was hungry, exhausted and in a constant state of terror. He was unable to listen for movement, and when a harmless creature of the forest startled him, he attacked as mercilessly as the outworlders. The ground-dweller was ripped to shreds within a few blinks and once the male had tasted blood a long-forgotten bloodlust woke in him.

Now he hunted the hunters. They were not expecting retaliation and the first ones were easy to kill. He shredded their skins with his claws and sucked the blood off his hands. He ate virtually nothing and avoided the watersprings where the enemy lay in waiting for him to show himself. He moved through the trees, several lengths above the ground. The killers were unable to climb up to him, nor could they sense his presence.

-/\-

Tiss had chosen his mate as soon as they had landed and once Tamuss had spoken the formula, he took her to a hidden area and commenced the mating cycles without any regard for her. He felt the urge so much stronger than on the previous world and the female was half-dead at the completion. For days he sat and contemplated her, feeling a strange satisfaction at the state she was in.

Once she was healed, he ignored her completely and when she finally gave birth to the young, he watched in greedy fascination as they killed and ate her. Then he lost much interest in the young and put his efforts into tracking down the source of great fear which had guided him here. He was sure that the creature from whom it originated was still alive.

Tiss spent hours projecting even more gruesome images of death and destruction. He savored each one as he constructed the pattern and sent it on its way. There was feed-back but not the pattern he was waiting for. He had patience.

The Peace-Lovers became more adept at hiding. They survived longer than any other world had. They fought back, and the Mind-Devourers lost many of their own. The first mutterings of discontent were heard and Tamuss tried to pursuade the Searcher that they should move on to a new world, before too many of them died. Tiss laughed at him and struck the fledgling Searcher down in front of the High-Priest. Tamuss knew fear.

-/\-

The male would no longer communicate with his own kind in any fashion. He became a figure to be feared. More often than not, the fear-crazed male would attack one of his own kind. The elders were long dead and nobody left knew which healing medicine would give him much needed peace.

He woke from a fitful doze. The cry which had come to him was one of great anguish. He knew the pattern. His mother was in great pain. He dropped his shields to reach her, and although they made contact it meant her death. The severing of the bond was nearly the death of him. He could no longer put his shields up and no longer cared to. He moved relentlessly over his world, drawing the off-worlders to him, away from his people, had he but known it.

-/\-

Kuss approached the High-Priest, bobbing his head up and down in agitation. What he had to say was not going to be received favourably. He hoped that the Searcher would not be present. All knew of his obsession with one particular being and what the Protector had to say would cause great anger. Tiss was feared for his anger. Three who had crossed him had killed with as little care as scratching an itch.

„Speak!" Tamuss took on a listening stance.

„A ship approaches this system."

„Then we must leave."

„Will the Searcher be persuaded?"

The two males stared at each other, and in the end Kuss offered to tell Tiss of this new development. „Death will be swift." To his surprise, the Searcher agreed to a new start.

Tiss had felt the approaching other-worlders and projected his images to them, discovering that he didn't need the High-Priest to initiate a Search. These new beings did not fear him, although he sensed unease and anger. These beings would be too strong. Tiss could always return his people here once the other beings moved on.

Tamuss didn't hesitate. He called the people together and once the Searcher deigned to take his place he started the ritual. Standing close to Tiss he caught the lack of respect radiating from the one they all depended on and felt a renewed cold tentacle of fear wrap itself round him and squeeze. If he upset the Searcher he could be his next victim. Tamuss shuddered. Tiss made a sound of contentment. He had the High-Priest at his whim now.

He nodded at the High-Priest. Tamuss raised the staff - and hoped nobody saw it shake. He closed his eyes and began the high-pitched shriek that would sent the mind-waves off on their Search. Could he trust the Searcher? Tiss followed the ritual without any sign of wanting to make a change. Tamuss breathed a sigh of relief and settled down to wait for the signal to board their ship. He hoped Tiss would be successful quickly. He had no wish to meet these other-worlders.

The Searcher was projecting two images - one to his nemesis on this world - images of beings who came from the sky to wreak destruction and death on this world - and the other to a far off place where there would be life for his people. He was aware that his obsession with this one creature had greatly endangered his species. It was a sobering awareness, but not strong enough to cause him to let go of the creature.


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Kirk settled in his chair. He was aware without realizing it, how the backs of the two officers in front of him had straightened as he had greeted them. The whole bridge snapped together sharply as he requested the report on the ship's status from the second-shift helmsman who had had the conn.

„Nothing to report, sir." It was what he had expected to hear.

„What's our course?"

„Heading three-two-seven."

„Speed?"

„Warp four."

„Something of interest out there?"

„Mister Spock is investigating something."

„Has he got you scanning for life-forms?"

„Yes, sir," the second-shift officers, navigator Hailey, and communications officer Dupont replied in chorus.

„Ms Tiakai, any news?"

The humanoid form of the Antebarran science officer turned slightly. „No, sssir. All readingsss are negative."

„Mister Pagomi, enhance view."

„Aye, sir!" The helmsman touched three buttons and the stars appeared closer to the ship.

Usually Kirk was bored when nothing was happening. But today he was content to listen to the murmers of his crew as they ran their sensors over each new planet which came within range. The last few days had brought home to him, how close he had come to never sitting in this chair again. It had shaken him to the core, to realize for the first time, that he was only human, after all, and it had been brought home to him, a shocking jolt, that he was no longer twenty.

The doors opened and soft footsteps came up to his chair. The fragnant aroma of fresh coffee filled the bridge.

„Thank you, yeoman", Kirk said softly and accepted the mug from Janice Rand. She gave her small, apologetic smile and also handed him a conn padd and the stylus. He set the coffee down on his armrest and studied the report.

„This took some time. Is Mister Scott slowing down?"

„No, sir. He was adament that you should sign it, and not Mister Spock, sir."

Oh? Kirk studied it in more detail and this time picked up on the relevant passage. He grinned, signed the report and handed it back to Ms Rand. Then he hit the com-switch on his armrest.

„Kirk to engineering."

„Scott here, sir."

„Are all shuttlecraft in working order, now?"

„Aye, sir. It seems that they are not such an antiquated extra as some people would like to think."

The captain grinned. „Too right, Mister Scott, they come in quite handy from time to time. - I see from your report that you have requested two extra engineers next time we make R & R at a starbase."

„Aye, sir. If they have shuttlecraft experience it would be preferable."

„I'm sure you could teach them anything, Scotty." Kirk's voice warmed.

„I can but try, sir."

„I have every confidence in you, Mister Scott. - Kirk out."

The captain sat back, picked up his coffee and sat sipping at it while he contemplated the view of wide open space. This was the life! It was at times like this that he truly regretted nothing, though at other times the past had its way of catching up with him. Once he had finished the coffee, he got up and went to stand beside Tiakai, peering over her shoulder at the monitor. It scrolled past much slower than when Spock was at the station, and the captain could actually read and understand what was going on.

Back in his seat, he thought about what he had just read, and found it struck an echo of familiarity. It must have been something he had read or heard about only recently. But try as he did, he couldn't recall the details. The communications desk chirped, beaking in to his thoughts.

„Sir, Starfleet Admiral Nogura requesting to speak to Admiral Kirk."

„On screen."

„Jim! Glad to see you're up and about again. You had us worried for a while!" were the Admiral's opening words.

„Er - thank you, sir", Kirk stuttered. „I -er - I mean - _what_ do you mean, sir?"

„First Officer Spock _and_ Doctor McCoy logged independant reports of the last incident."

„Did they?"

The dark-skinned Admiral smiled at the grim tone. „Don't be too hard on them, Jim."

Kirk sent him a look which spoke volumes. „I trust this call isn't to tell me I'm being put out to pasture?" That was his greatest fear. He couldn't go back behind a desk again.

„No. Starfleet gave you a five-year mission - and I won't be the one to drag you kicking and screaming back to Earth. Not that I'll stop you if you decide to come back to the Admiralty..."

„No way!"

Heihachiro Nogura laughed. There were chuckles on the bridge, too.

„So what's up?" Kirk knew he could get away with a certain amount of informality, but the bottom line was that Nogura was his commanding officer.

„We've had a few reports come in from various quadrants about devastated planets - whole races wiped out within a matter of years or months even. Some incidents must have happened centuries ago, but others appear to be quite recent."

Kirk straightened. „The Destroyers?" he asked, expecing the negative answer he received.

The Admiral shook his head. „These maurauders appear to be far blood-thirstier than they were. So far we have been unable to come up with a pattern."

„Klingons?"

„It doesn't appear to be so - and anyway most of the planets are well inside Federation territory - we'd know if Klingons were crossing into our space. - The same goes for the Romulans."

„Orions?"

„Possibly. Starfleet would like the Enterprise to investigate."

„Yes, sir!" Kirk was happy to have a definate mission again.

„One thing, sir - could Starfleet transfer all known data to the Enterprise - I'm sure it will come in handy."

„Of course, standby to recieve data." The Admiral looked down and clicked a few buttons. Then he looked up. „And Jim, keep us informed this time, _please_!"

„Of course, Admiral Nogura." The innocent tone caused the admiral to roll his eyes heavenwards.

„Good hunting, Jim - and be careful! Starfleet out." The view screen went black and then was replaced with the sight of the stars surrounding the starship.

„Mister Dupont - transfer all received data to science station. - Ms Tiakai, see if you can correlate the new data with what we have already."

„Aye, sir."

„Kirk to sickbay. Is Doctor McCoy on duty?"

„No, sir, Doctor M'benga is the duty officer at the moment."

„When did McCoy sign off?"

„He's had two days off duty sir - he's due back at 1100 hours."

„Thank you. Kirk out."

The captain stood up. „Mister Hailey, you have the conn. I have a meeting with Doctor McCoy."

Kirk strode through the doors leading from the bridge and snapped: „Deck four!" He'd try McCoy's quarters to start with. He knocked impatiently and heard the muffled Southern drawl bid him enter. He did.

„Jim!" The doctor shot to his feet, alarm written all over his face.

„I just spoke to Nogura, Bones. What did you put in your report?"

"Me?" McCoy tried for innocence, but the expression on his captain's face sobered him. „Well, I guess I did mention your little altercation with the inert mass on Rho Gamma Three."

„Mention?"

The ship's surgeon sighed. „Okay, so I told him you got seriously injured. - Hell Jim - I'm responsible to Starfleet that their living legend returns in one piece!"

Kirk colored with embarrassment. He had hoped that _that_ particular remark which had been bandied round in comments in the press on their first five-year mission would have been forgotten by now. „So you were reminding Starfleet of their other living legend, were you? - _The_ Doctor McCoy who patched the 'hero' up time after time!"

The older man flinched. „Would I do that?" He sounded hurt that Kirk would even mention such a thought, even in anger. And there was no mistaking Kirk's mood.

Deflated the captain shrugged. „No, I guess not - but somebody told Starfleet I was in a bad way."

„Who else filed a report?"

„Spock."

McCoy snorted. „Well that pointy-eared individual sure ain't the one to tell tales out of school."

„Not directly, no", Kirk mused. „Do you really thing he'd even hint at something like that? I mean let Starfleet know he does actually have feelings under that icy exterior he still likes to present to the universe?"

Kirk's hazel eyes fixed McCoy's blue ones. „Which leaves you, Bones. Have you a copy of your report here, or do I have to pull it from the computer? - I might as well remind you that I still have Admiralty clearance and can override your classifications."

McCoy looked chagrined. He had forgotten that his friend still was ranked as Admiral, even if he preferred to be addressed as Captain while in command of his Enterprise.

In a resigned voice he ordered: „Computer. McCoy's report on the Rho Gamma Three incident - the one which was sent to Starfleet - _not_ the medical report."

In the short pause, Kirk said sarcastically: „Been busy with reports have you, Leonard?"

McCoy scowled and started twiddling his thumbs as the computer replayed his recorded report to Kirk. Most of it was routine.

„According to Commander Spock's communication, the planet was shaken by a strong tremor, fourteen on the Richter scale, at the precise moment of beam-down. An unstable rockface collapsed on the landing party - Captain Kirk was knocked into a crevice by the impact. The other members of the landing party escaped with relatively minor injuries which I treated once they had returned to the ship - reference medical report, stardate 8731.8, McCoy.

„Commander Spock climbed down the crevice and discovering the captain's major and potentially fatal injuries realized the captain could not be beamed back aboard the Enterprise. He managed to climb up the crevice with Kirk strapped to his back despite his own extensive injuries.

„I commend Commander Spock for a medal of honour. He saved Kirk's life by his actions. Also I commend Lieutenant Sulu who flew the supposedly useless shuttlecraft down to the unstable planet's surface and was able to land, take Spock and the captain on board and return to the ship without adding to the captain's shock and stress.

„Also I recommend Commander Scott receives some recognition as if he hadn't kept the one shuttlecraft in working order, we would have lost Captain Kirk this time for sure! And just to make the point clear, some injuries are made worse by beaming and we need to keep the 'old-fashioned' methods of transport active."

„Enough, computer!" Kirk's temper had cooled. „Bones, if Spock hears that, you'll never hear the end of it - he'll tell you it was the only logical thing for him to do."

„I'm sure he will. That's why I didn't tell him I'd also sent a report to Starfleet. Reading his missive, it sounds like a Sunday School outing resulting in a bruised knee!"

„Bones - you know Spock is modest - and private."

„He isn't modest, Jim - to be modest you have to _feel_ pride and subdue it."

Kirk sighed. He knew his first officer far better and more intimately than McCoy, but he was unable to defend his friend without stripping the Vulcan of his required privacy.

„Jim, was that the only reason you came to see me?"

„Yes. I wanted to deal with that in private." „Thank you."

„Nogura also has a mission for us - nothing too exciting or strenuous from the sounds of it. Still, I'm going to call a briefing at 1300 hours. The relevant data has been transferred to the science station, so you can access it from sickbay. Any input on this will be of use."

„Tell me more", McCoy grinned. So Kirk did. The doctor ran through the same suggestions as Kirk had to his superior and felt as perplexed as the captain when they all were refuted.

„You know, Jim", he said with a frown, „it all sounds like I heard something before about this."

„That's what I felt, too. Spock is on to something similar at least, and I'm interested to hear his comments on the subject."

„Can I tag along?"

„If you promise not to wind Spock up. I don't think I'm quite up to the pair of you hammer and tongs right now."

The doctor gave him a searching look as they stood in the turbo lift heading towards Spock's quarters. Kirk shrugged. „Don't look like that, Bones. - I guess I just discovered I'm not twenty - or even thirty anymore. I'm taking longer to recover from that incident that I should. But I'm plenty fit for duty!" he added as he saw McCoy's lips start to form a comment.

The doctor subsided. His scanner had told him the same thing only that morning, when he had snuck into the captain's quarters while he was still asleep and ran a quick medical scan before changing the younger man's status from 'fit for light duties' to 'fit for duty', and doing it with a clear conscience for once.

„Come in, Jim." Spock's voice activated the door before the captain could make his presence known.

They stepped into the warm, dry cabin. „Lights." Spock said softly, and the light changed from the red glow of Vulcan to the bright lighting used on the rest of the ship.

„Doctor." The Vulcan greeted his other friend serenely.

„Hello Spock. It sure is hot in here!" McCoy couldn't resist the comment.

„Bones!" Kirk said in a low voice, full of meaning.

„Please, sit." The first officer indicated the two chairs in front of his desk. „It is - gratifying to see you back on duty, captain." Spock remained more formal round the ship's doctor.

„Thanks to you", Kirk said matter of factly. Anything else would have started a discussion on logic and debts - or lack of - and he didn't have the time for it.

„Spock, Admiral Nogura has just contacted me - and given us a new mission." One eyebrow slid up fractionally. „I believe you are already investigating the evidence - or else something similar, maybe connected."

„I am?"

„Devastated planets - all class P."

The Vulcan steepled his fingers. „I have given the matter some thought."

„Starfleet has transmitted all their information and Ms Tiakai is correlating all their and our data now."

Kirk caught a ripple of excitement through his faint link with the Vulcan, but outwardly Spock showed nothing but serenity.

„I'm calling a briefing at 1300 hours, so if you would give it some thought and let us know what you come up with, I'd be grateful."

„As you wish." Spock inclined his head. „Might I suggest, captain, that Mister Chekov be present? His experience as weapons officer could give us some insight as to what capabilities the aggressors have."

„Him and Sulu. As far as I can make out the course of destruction seems very erratic. Could be the type of ship or their method of navigation."

„Chekov can help there, too", McCoy threw in, just in case they had forgotten about him.

Kirk felt a sense of purpose again. He stood up and rubbed his hands together. „Right. I'll see you both, Chekov, Sulu and Uhura in briefing room one at 1300 hours. - May I?" He asked of his first officer as he reached for the intercom switch. Spock inclined his head.

„Kirk to Chekov!"

„Chekov here."

„Mister Chekov, get in touch with Ms Tiakai and have a good look at what she's working with - I'd like your thoughts and comments. 1300 hours, briefing room one."

„Aye, sir!" He repeated the sparse information to both his other senior officers, knowing that it was enough to get the results he wanted.

McCoy looked at Spock. „I guess the dynamo is back at work."

„Dynamo?"

„You know, Spock - little light machine - but makes a big difference."

„I fail to comprehend your meaning Doctor."

McCoy sighed. „You would! - I'm not in the mood for long-winded explanations, Spock."

„A precise one would be acceptable."

„Work it out for yourself - give that underdeveloped matter between your ears something to do."

„I assume you are referring to my brain - which has evolved to a far more superior organ than yours!"

McCoy spluttered. Spock's sally had been delivered in a perfectly calm voice, as if he were discussing the time of day. Kirk shook his head - his two friends were at it again. He hadn't heard what had started them off, and he found he didn't care.

„I'll see you both at 1300 hours, too", he said loudly enough to get their attention.

He was almost out of the door when the doctor asked: „Where are you going , Jim?"

„There's something in my cabin which I want to get, then, for your information, doctor, I'm going back to the bridge. If that is all right with you!"

McCoy shrugged and exchanged a look of relief with Spock. Jim was definately better.

„Well, I'd better be off, too, Spock. Work to do."

He hurried out, leaving the Vulcan already bending over his console in concentration. Five minutes later, McCoy was studying the sickbay computer monitor with a frown of concentration.

-/\-

Spock entered the briefing room at 1259 hours, and just managed to keep his eyebrows from lifting. For the first time that he could remember everybody was on time, sitting expectantly at the table and not standing around chatting. Spock took his seat, at the captain's right hand and folded his hands on the tabletop.

Kirk rose. „Good afternoon, gentlemen. As you all know by now, we have a new mission, which promises to be slightly less exciting that the last one."

The officers, with the exception of Spock, grinned at each other.

„We're glad that you've recovered, sir!" Uhura spoke quietly, but judging by the nods, she spoke for them all.

„Thank you, Uhura." Kirk smiled at her and then looked at each of his senior officers, acknowledging their sentiments. „I'm pretty happy about it to." Now there were some chuckles. McCoy muttered something under his breath, but at the captain's look, he quietened.

Kirk took a deep breath and became serious again.

„It appears that something, or somebody has been systematically wiping out entire populations over the course of years, or centuries rather, and doing it in a most bloodthirsty manner. Starfleet have collected all the relevant information and passed it on to us.

„Mister Spock has been investigating this phenenomen prior to our mission, as he got curious about the destruction the Enterprise encountered. So I'll hand you over to him." He nodded at Spock.

„Thank you, captain. - We first picked up sensor readings of a class M planet which supported no sentient life-forms here." Spock indicated a tactical read-out of the quadrant on the central monitor. „Our course took us along this route, to the next class M planet, here." The stilo stopped. „Again, there was no indication of sentient beings. Plant life was abundant." He travelled the Enterprise's trajectory, pointing out three more planets. „The same situation was here, here, and here."

„And that made you curious?" McCoy asked.

„Indeed, Doctor. One or two planets could be within the parameters of coincidence, but the fact that five planets were in the same condition contradicts that theory."

„You mean it gave you an uneasy feeling?"

„Vulcans do not have 'uneasy feelings'. - However, if you are implying that I became interested you would be correct. A fact, which I believe, we have already established." McCoy remained silent. Spock had outwitted him yet again.

„I started the computer researching all readings on all class P planets we have encountered in this quadrant and discovered that on 93.58 % of them, there is evidence of destruction of dwellings - a fact which in itself indicates the existence of sentient beings at some point in the planet's history. Further detailed analysis showed that no world was invaded at precisely the same time."

„Precisely?" Kirk queried.

„When the planets are listed in time-sequence, there are lapses of several months to several decades between 'visits'."

„Time-sequence?" McCoy asked.

„There is no navigational pattern to explain the progression. Two neigbouring planets can be separated in the order of things by two hundred years - several planets, located light-decades away in some cases, having evidence of being 'visited' in the mean time."

„Are you sure the perpetrators are the same in all cases?" Kirk asked.

„There appears to be a similarity in the patterns of destruction - with minor changes approximately every thirty years."

„Approximately?" McCoy was like a terrier.

„Yes, Doctor. In one case it is thirty-one point three years, in another twenty-nine point nine years, another twenty-nine point seven years, thirty point eight years-"

„Spock - I think we _all_ get the point!" Kirk interrupted with a sharp look at the doctor.

„Any theories?" the captain asked his first officer.

„Insufficient data. - I would not wish to speculate at this point."

„Anybody else got a theory?" Sometimes Kirk got exhasperated with Spock's retreat to his Vulcan ways at moments like this. At other times, the science officer made guesses as much as he and the rest of his crew did.

„Change of command", Leonard McCoy offered before anyone else could open their mouth.

„Elaborate, Bones."

„_Most_ sentient beings that we've encountered have a similar life-span. Thirty years would seem a good average at a command post, with the exception of Vulcans - I guess not having feelings makes your lot immune to heart-problems - no stress!" he sniped at the Vulcan.

Spock looked at him with an expressionless face and said calmly: „You forget, Doctor, that you performed surgery on Ambassador Sarek for heart-problems. Sarek is undoubtably a Vulcan."

„Ambassador Sarek had more stress than a human father would have to deal with counteracting your human influences, Spock!"

„You presume too much, Doctor!"

„In what way?" Bones had an expectant look on his face. The Vulcan realized just in time that he had nearly walked into the trap.

„You are ignoring the issue at hand", Spock pointed out in a serene voice.

Kirk hid a grin - he had seen where Bones had been heading with Spock and how close his friend had come to admitting that McCoy was making remarks to close to home for comfort - and thereby admitting to un-Vulcan-like sentiments. Briskly he brought everybody back to the subject of the briefing:

„Any other ideas on the reasons behind the slight deviations on modus operandi?" Everybody, except Spock, shook their heads.

„So we'll assume for the time being that there is a change of command at one level or another which accounts for the differences. - Anything else, Spock?"

„Most of the dwellings appear to belong to sentient, but primitive, races."

„How do you define primitive?" McCoy threw in.

„No evidence of power-generation, transport, multi-storey buildings, no major changes to the enviroment."

„Couldn't all that have been destroyed - or taken from the planets?" Chekov enquired.

„There would be some evidence."

„Vat about the ewidence of fire-power? They could have blown themselves to bits."

„Mister Chekov, surely your analysis has better results than that?" Spock sounded almost impatient.

„Yes, vell, it vould seem that the dewices used to destroy the inhabited areas are from a more dewelopped species. And until recently they vere still primitive. The residue left on the last few vorlds is reminicent of Klingon disruptors but not identical."

Kirk's eyebrows shot up.

„Klingons?"

Chekov shook his head. „No, sir. Klingons have a more direct method of taking over new vorlds."

„Klingons would also leave a garrison or two to 'supervise' their new acquisition - and milk it for all it's worth", Scotty pointed out. „Plus Klingons have filthy habits and would leave all their trash lying around. I canna imagine a Klingon garbage collector!"

Even Kirk had to smile at the image of a Klingon walking around with a pointed stick and a large rubbish sack.

„Romulans?" Uhura asked quietly.

„Their veaponry is too different. - It is perhaps someone who has bought Klingon veapons and attempted to duplicate them."

Spock nodded slowly. „That is a possibility, Mister Chekov. It is consistant with the evidence we have."

Chekov reminded himself not to show he was pleased with what amounted to praise from the Vulcan, who he admired so much.

„Mister Sulu, Mister Chekov, any thoughts on their navigational and transport system?"

„As Mister Spock said, their plotted course is very erratic, and doesn't correspond to any star-map the federation posesses. The only reason we could come up with, is that their ships are not very maneuverable. Given Mister Spock's time-sequence, all planets are connected by straight lines - like this."

Sulu nodded at Chekov who ordered: „Computer add planet by planet progress vith wisible connections in time-secquvence, correlating star positions for correct star-date." The display changed rapidly.

Kirk held up his hand. „Stop, computer!" The picture he was looking at now, differed somewhat from Spocks initial display.

The Vulcan leaned forward, his left eyebrow hidden under his hair. He saw McCoy's look and murmered: „Fascinating." For once, the doctor didn't have anything to say - he too was intent on the display.

„Thoughts?" Kirk looked round, and saw that everybody was as mystified as he was, including, it would seem, Mister Spock.

„Is it possible, using what we know so far, to project future destinations of whoever is doing this?"

The reply was negative from all round the table. Kirk waited a few minutes while everybody thought hard. He knew what _he_ thought should be the next step, but was willing to follow any course of suggestion.

When nobody came up with one, he cleared his throat and said: „In that case, I supose we'd better beam down to at least one of the destroyed planets and see if we can come up with any more clues."

He sat back, waiting for at least two people to try to dissuade him from that course of action. There was a bit more quiet while his idea was digested and then Spock inclined his head. „I concur, captain. It is the only logical procedure."

Then why didn't you say so? Kirk thought tetchily.

McCoy nodded slowly. „You're right, Jim - if we want to learn anything, we're going to have to get closer. - I take it, you propose to lead the landing party?"

Kirk met his eyes squarely. „Any objections?"

„No - you're all healed up - and since when did you listen to what I say, anyhow?"

The captain hid the grin which threatened. It wasn't often that McCoy gave in gracefully.

„Right. In that case, a first landing party, consisting of Spock and three science-technicians, Chekov and a couple of security men, McCoy and a member of his medical staff, and myself will beam down to the nearest planet."

„Excuse me, sir, dinna you mean the _chief of security_ and his men?"

„That's what I said, Scotty."

Kirk caught the glances his senior officers gave each other. Only Pavel Chekov looked slightly dazed, the others clearly thought their captain was still working under half-thrusters.

„Spock?" He caught the first officer's attention.

„Sir?"

„You didn't make the announcement?"

„Announcement?" Spock's elevated eyebrow showed the Vulcan's confusion.

„In that stack of stuff Bones made me work through!" Kirk grinned.

„You mean he doesn't know yet?" McCoy asked with something akin to a growl.

„It would appear so", Kirk replied with a wry grimace.

Spock still hadn't quite comprehended what Kirk was talking about. Chekov now had an ever-widening grin on his face. Uhura and Sulu exchanged a glance of slow understanding.

„Computer - I need to make an announcement to the entire ship."

„Ready, sir."

„Attention please. This is the captain speaking. Due to my - incapacitation, the following announcement is now being made after an inexcusable delay: As from Stardate 7736.0 Weapons Officer Pavel Chekov is promoted to Chief of Security, Lieutenant Pavel Chekov! Thank you."

Sulu slapped his younger friend hard across the back. Uhura kissed him warmly on both cheeks and Scotty reached over the table to pump the Russian's hand enthusiastically. McCoy also shook his hand, though with less vigour. Kirk stood up and walked round the table to stand in front of his new security chief. Spock followed him.

Chekov sprang to his feet and stood to attention. „Well done, Pavel. Congratulations on your promotion and on your new posting!"

„Thank you, sir!"

Kirk extended his hand and shook Chekov's warmly, with his unique smile, and clapped him on the shoulder. The younger man couldn't quite subdue the answering beam.

Spock put his hands together behind his back and looked sternly at Chekov. „I also extend my congratulations."

Chekov sobered. „Thank, you, Mister Spock. I shall endeawor to fulfill my duties to the best of my abilities."

„Anything else would be illogical."

„You could at least apologize for not making the anouncement, Spock!" McCoy complained.

The Vulcan turned: „Such announcements are made by the captain, not by the first officer. The captain would recover, therefore it was not my place to make the promotion public knowledge."

„You could have at least put Chekov out of his misery!"

„I was not aware he felt miserable."

„It's an expression, Spock! - Of course he was nervous - weren't you when you were waiting for your promotions?"

„Of course not, doctor."

„I suppose it was only logical that your promotions went through without a hitch!" McCoy snapped sarcastically.

„Of course, doctor. Absolutely logical."

McCoy spluttered. Scotty grinned and said in a stage whisper to Chekov: „Actually, laddie, your promotion was only logical, too - which is why Mister Spock dinna say anything to you - he assumed you knew already."

Chekov gave him a startled look. „Really, Scotty?"

„I dinna ken, laddie, but it would be a fine excuse!"

Chekov looked crestfallen.

„Never mind, Pavel. - You've joined the upper ranks, now!" Sulu grinned.

„And you can go through security with a new broom", Uhura added, remembering conversations they'd had.

Chekov brightened. „Yes, Enterprise vill have a security department second only to mother Russia!"

„By all means, Chekov - but don't let your restructuring interfere with the duties of your men!"

„No, sir!" The Russian saluted, a determined glint in his eye.

Kirk grinned. „Relax, Pavel. Don't try to do it all on the first day."

„No, sir!" „And Pavel - who do you suggest to be promoted to the Navigations desk and as Weapon's Officer?"

„Er -" There was a tinge of embarrassment on the Russians swarthy face.

„Spit it out!" Kirk grinned. He was reminded of himself and knew that Chekov had given this some thought and had a plan to implement, although he was sure, that the young man hadn't planned on being called to explain it to his captain within minutes of his new post.

„Vell, sir - Weapons are a part of security..." His voice trailed off. At the captain's encouraging nod he swallowed and continued:

„I have alvays felt that it vould be vise to connect Veapons to security. Security are often adwised before Veapons about new innowations - but Veapons need to know chust as soon."

„And you are proposing to change Starfleet's tried and tested methods?" McCoy's sharp voice broke in.

Chekov colored but replied strongly: „It vill vork better!" The doctor's eyebrow rose in perfect imitation of Spock. He refrained from commenting.

„Mister Chekov, what you say appears to be logical. However it will need a great deal of thought before implementing."

„Thank you, sir." Pavel kept his voice even when replying to Spock. He had received yet another compliment from the first officer, and felt like a dog with two tails. He must, at last, be getting things right!

„What about Navigations, Mister Chekov - or had you some plans there, too?" The chuckles of his two friends gave him away. He studied the captain's boots, willing the color to recede from his face. He felt like the awkward ensign he had been, and wondered if the captain's indulgence of him had been used up over the years.

„Well, Pavel?" There was the hint of a laugh in the captain's voice which brought his head up. „I suppose you're trying to further emulate Mister Spock by bucking for two jobs as well?"

Chekov swallowed.

„Bear in mind, Mister Spock is Vulcan. He can do two jobs at once."

Chekov drew himself to full height. „I am Russian", he said proudly. „Ve can also do two chobs."

„As long as you're not trying for my job, Mister Chekov!"

„No, sir!" the younger man said, shocked Kirk would think that.

„Just kidding, Pavel. - I must admit, I'd be sorry to lose you from Navigations."

„Thank you, sir."

Chekov hoped his fellow officers wouldn't think he could say nothing else but 'yes, sir, no,sir, thank you, sir', it was just he felt so tongue-tied having finally attained what he had worked so hard for. It was finally beginning to sink in: He really was the chief of security on Starfleet's flagship!

Kirk smiled at Chekov's happiness. He remembered how he had felt not _so_ many years ago when he had been promoted to first officer. He had hardly been able to wait to get out of his superior's earshot to shout with joy, and he had actually done a victory dance of his ancestors, learned one summer long ago when he and Sam were quite small. His mother had been proud of her Sioux heritage and wanted them to know about her people.

„Computer - please note, Pavel Chekov's uniform is to be amended to carry the rank insignia of Lieutenant, and the insignia ofchief of security _as well_ as weapon's officer and chief navigator. His personal security clearance is to be updated as of now and his cabin console is to be updated for class A1 security clearance and secured. Addition to captain's log as follows:

„Stardate 7745.6. Pavel Chekov instated as security chief. He is also retaining both positions as weapon's officer and chief of navigation by his own request. I have agreed for the moment and will review my descision as and when neccessary. Chekov's security clearances have been upgraded to class A1."

„Well Lieutenant Chekov, which is the closest planet for our landing party to check out?"

Brought back to the matter at hand, the senior officers resumed their seats round the table. Chekov pointed out their destination.

„Captain to bridge - plot course to Cyad Nine."

„Aye, sir!" And after a short pause: „Course plotted, sir!"

„Implement. Warp six, Ms Pl'jialk."

„Aye, sir!"

„How long 'til we arrive?"

„Thirty-one minutes, sir."

„Thank you. - Kirk out."

„Thirty minutes and twenty-seven point four-three seconds, to be precise, captain." Spock's voice was loud enough to carry to McCoy.

„One day, Spock, I'll live to hear you make an estimation", the doctor needled.

„Vulcans do not make estimations, doctor."

„Travelling around with us humans might one force you into making a guess - and I swear I'll live that long to witness it - or else I'll come back to haunt you!"

Spock eyed McCoy. „How would you do that, doctor?"

McCoy harrumped and snapped: „If I told you that, I'd lose all the fun when I get round to it, wouldn't I?"

„Fun?" Spock queried.

„Sure - all ghosts have fun haunting. Everybody knows that! Don't you have ghosts on Vulcan? - No I suppose you don't. They wouldn't be logical!" McCoy answered his own question.

„If that is _all_, gentlemen, let's get down to business shall we?" Kirk said sharply. Sometimes, he really did get tired of their constant bickering! „Chekov and McCoy put together your teams. - Depending on what we find down there, we might bring down more people, so get stand-by teams briefed as well. - Dismissed!"


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

As the others left the briefing room, talking quietly about their mission, Kirk still had one thing to do.

„Kirk to transporter room."

„Kyle here, sir!"

„Ah, Lieutenant Kyle, are you beaming us down today?"

„Er - yes sir!"

„I'm pleased to hear it! - I would be grateful, if this time I _didn't _get flattened by the planet when we beam down." He heard the transporter chief's chuckle.

„Understood, sir."

„Where is Ensign N'grodth?"

„On general duties, sir."

„I'd like to speak to her - now if possible."

„Aye, sir! - She has been reprimanded, sir."

„That wasn't what I had in mind, Lieutenant."

„No, sir."

„Send N'grodth to the gardens."

„Aye, sir!"

„Kirk out." He hurried out of the briefing room and made his way to the gardens, just arriving before the ensign.

„Good day, Ensign N'grodth", he greeted his extremely nervous subordinate in a friendly voice.

„Good afternoon, sir!" The young humanoid whispered. She saluted quickly, afraid of making yet another mistake. Her normally bright yellow skin had paled to a sickly white, Kirk noticed.

„Are you ill, Ensign?"

„N-no, sir", she stuttered.

„Let's walk in here for a few minutes", the captain suggested, indicating the doors.

„Y-yes, sir."

They entered the gardens and Kirk took a deep breath. „Ah - smell that! Doesn't it remind you of home?"

N'grodth copied him. „No, sir - on Hatsawa we have no flowering plants."

„Tell me about your world."

„It is a damp, grey world. There is hardly any sunlight, perhaps two hours a revolution. There is no weather pattern either. Our world is flat, with many lakes and rivers, with plenty of trees and bushes and other non-flowering plants. Apart from the lack of sunlight it is atmospherically identical to any other Class M planet."

„You say it's flat?"

„Yes, sir."

„Any seismological movements?"

„No, sir." N'grodth stood still. „I apologize sir."

„What for?"

„For making such a terrible blunder."

„Apology accepted."

„I - I heard you were nearly killed, sir."

„And you're feeling guilty?" She nodded.

„Don't be too hard on yourself, Ensign! - Did anybody in all your training ever mention earthquakes and the likes to you? Did you ever practise setting anybody down on a mountainous terrain, let alone in the middle of a quake?"

The Hatsawan looked at him with fearfully widened turquoise eyes. „No, sir."

„Did anybody ask you if you knew about such occurances?" There was a pause before the ensign shook her head.

„I just learned more about your world in the last five minutes than I knew before, Ensign. It is the first world I have ever heard of where there is absolutely no seismological movement at all."

„Really, sir?" She looked astonished. „All the other worlds shake like that?" There was almost pure horror in her voice.

Kirk laughed gently. „Some more than others. Vulcan is supposed to be pretty bad when it errupts, Earth is always at it. Part of San Francisco was destroyed by eathquakes several times in the past."

„Aren't Terrans afraid?"

„We respect the power behind the quakes, but we're not afraid - I guess we hope we'll survive this one, and that the big one just won't happen in our life-time." She looked confused.

„A Terran joke, Ensign. Mister Spock would say we humans are illogical and would work out the probability of the big one occurring for you, and then efficiently plan the route of orderly evacuation."

She caught the smile just before it showed on her face, but he saw it in her eyes.

„I've been caught in several quakes before, Ensign. Never quite as directly before, but it wasn't the first time, and it won't be the last."

„You're not afraid, sir?" she asked increduously and then all her visible skin turned dark yellow. „I'm sorry, sir", she stuttered.

„Nothing to apologize for, Ensign - and no, I'm not afraid." He studied her. She had lost all her color again. „The question is, Ensign N'grodth - are you afraid to operate the transporter again?" He asked it very gently, but she still looked frightened.

„I don't know sir."

„You made a mistake, Ensign, because you _hadn't _been properly instructed. It was not your fault."

„Lieutenant Kyle thinks it is, sir."

„Did you tell him that you couldn't interpret the information?"

„No sir." She ducked her head and her light brown hair hid her face.

„Ensign, report to the transporter room. I will inform Lieutenant Kyle that you are back to your normal duties. - And Ensign - if you like, tell Mister Tanzer which of your home planet plants you'd like in this garden - most crew members have on favorite - it helps them feel at home."

„Do you have a favorite, sir?" she asked timidly.

„Yes - it's that big oak over there. Mister Tanzer had to accelerate it's growth somewhat - it takes about two hundred Terran years to reach that size."

She stared at it. „But nothing from my world would survive here."

„Mister Tanzer will devise a way - and Sulu or Spock will help him. We want all crew members to feel at home here. - And Ensign, you were assigned to the Enterprise on the merit of your abilities. Lieutenant Kyle will teach you what you don't know about other worlds - and I will be sending a dispatch to Starfleet - they need to modify their teaching to include new Federation members' worlds and their differences."

She looked at him round-eyed and decided he meant it. She colored again - but this time only to her usual shade of yellow. Her eyes also became deeper turquoise and Kirk felt as if he was looking into an ocean. She managed a smile, baring a toothless mouth.

„Thank you, sir!" she said ferverently and saluted.

„Dismissed, Ensign!" Kirk smiled and walked with her to the exit. She walked off - almost gliding.

The captain pressed the comm switch. „Kirk to transporter room."

„Kyle here."

„Lieutenant Kyle, Ensign N'grodth is on her way to report for her _normal_ duties. - Her reprimand is to be struck from her record and you will instruct her on the geographical and seismological anonomalies different worlds present us with. - Her world is flat and absolutely stable - she would know to avoid any amount of water and plant-life but she has never seen a mountain or experienced a quake!"

„She - she didn't say anything to me, sir." Kyle sounded dubious.

„She felt guilty and you are her superior. You didn't ask either, did you?"

„No, sir."

„And Kyle - she might be nervous about beaming me down in a little while - would you go through it with her step by step?"

„Yes, sir. - Beaming down, sir?"

„Yes - a landing party of ten - we'll go in two groups."

„Aye, sir!" „Kirk out."

Almost whistling Kirk entered the turbo lift and told it to take him to the bridge. He stepped out and resumed his place in the captain's chair. „Ms Pl'jailk, how long to our destination?"

„Four minutes, captain."

„Four minutes and two point four seconds to be precise", the science officer said and he stepped down to stand beside his captain. The navigator half-turned but thought better of it.

„Anything new show up on the sensors, Mister Spock?" Kirk asked, hopefully.

„No. It appears to be in exactly the same condition as all the other planets we have encountered so far.

„Uhura, any sign of comunications?"

„No, sir. I've tried all frequencies, even old radio-waves but there's nothing we can pick up."

„Keep trying. And keep locked into our communicators when we're down there. The moment _you_ start to lose our signal have us beamed up again."

Kirk turned back to the screen. The planet loomed closely now. It looked almost Terran in its tranquility. Clouds made the same swirling patterns, there were oceans and continents. „Magnify!" he said quietly.

The picture changed to show a lush green color and mountainous landscapes with white peaks. Rivers carved up the land and there were several lakes to be seen. All in all - a normal class M planet - if it weren't for the absolute lack of sentient life forms.

„Spock, will we be alright without our environmental suits?" Kirk asked.

„Yes, captain - analysis shows that the atmosphere is similar to that of Earth. You will not require protection."

„And what about you?" Kirk asked with a slight grin.

„I do not require one either. However it is not advisable that I spend more than eight point six hours on the surface."

„Do we need any inoculations?" Kirk asked quickly.

„No - the only organisms detected are not harmful to humans - or Vulcans - or Doctor McCoy has recently given us the necessary vaccinations."

„Good. - Standard orbit, Mister Sulu - and find us a good place to land! Preferably flat for miles."

There were a couple of low chuckles. Pl'jailk looked at Sulu in amazement. How could the captain make a joke like that? Sulu was laughing too, and yet he had, as the rest of the crew, been deeply worried about his captain's state after the last planet fall. She shook her head. Humans were so difficult to understand.

They settled into orbit and Sulu set the screen to maximum magnification. He searched the entire planet's surface for a site which would pose no danger to the landing party and at the same time be close enough to the remains of dwelling sites to be of some use. He found one and called it to the captain's attention.

Naturally Spock transfered all the data to his console and studied it as well.

„I think that about fits the ticket, don't you, Spock?" James Kirk asked after moment.

„I agree."

„Sulu - patch the coordinates through to the transporter room!" Sulu pressed the buttons as he acknowledged his orders.

„Mister Scott, you have the conn!" Kirk announced, before jumping up, He swept off the bridge, Spock half a step behind.

They were in the turbolift when Kirk suddenly said: „Dammit - I forgot to tell Bones to meet us in the transporter room. And Chekov! I must be getting old!" Spock refrained from saying anything. But privately he agreed, it was not like the captain to forget such details.

„Kirk to McCoy", Kirk said into the intercom.

„McCoy here."

„Meet us in the transporter room. We're on our way. Kirk out!" He repeated the message to Chekov just as the lift deposited them outside the transporter room. The two men entered. Kirk was pleased to see that the Hatsawan was standing at the control panel, Lieutenant Kyle beside her. The ensign looked even more aprehencious when she noticed the Vulcan first officer.

Spock's left eyebrow was slightly elevated, but he refrained from making any remark. If Kirk didn't have a problem with her operating the transporter, then it was not his place to say anything. The doors opened to admit Scotty.

He frowned and asked: „What is she doing at the controls?" N'grodth turned pale again.

„_I_ ordered Ensign N'grodth back to her post, Scotty." Kirk's voice was cold.

„But captain, sir, she was at the controls when -"

„I am aware of that, Mister Scott!" The captain's tone brooked no discussion. The chief engineer turned red from the effort of not saying another word. When McCoy breezed in to the transporter room, his words echoed Scott's.

Kirk almost shouted: „If Starfleet's training was adapted more quickly to take the new federation members' worlds into consideration, the accident would never have happened. Also, if department heads would make it their business to find out about new crew members, Ensign N'grodth would have been informed that such things as quakes exist, what their readings look like on the transporter controls and then she would have never beamed us into such close proximity - even if she had been given those precise coordinates!"

„Sorry I spoke", McCoy said, almost sulkily.

Spock's eyebrow just rose higher and he exchanged a look with the doctor. Something was still not right with the captain - and it wasn't anything like they had experienced in a long time. Chekov had arrived during the captain's tirade and he stood looking guilty, though he couldn't work out what exactly was going on.

Kirk took a deep breath, trying to control his temper which wasn't the best at the moment. Stiffly he said: „Let's go!"

„I vill beam down first with Matthews and P'tash." Chekov's voice was firm. Kirk was about to dispute that when he remembered that as chief of security, Chekov was doing his job by the book.

„Alright. - The moment you're sure everything is secure, let us know."

„Aye, sir."

A jerk of his head, and the two red-shirted security men took their places along side Chekov, who nodded at N'grodth. She made the settings and then looked behind her at Kyle for comfirmation. Scotty also peered over her shoulder, and Kirk noted that the young female was shaking.

„Energize!" The chief engineer ordered.

There was a pause of three minutes, by which time they were all feeling tense, wondering what had happened to their landing team.

„Chekov to Enterprise."

„Yes, Pavel?" Kirk's relief was visible.

„Everything secure."

„Right. McCoy, Spock and I are beaming down next." The three men took their places on the transporter pad.

Again the Hatsawan requested the check by her superior. She was shaking even more.

„Ensign N'grodth - keep a lock on our communicators at all times. Uhura is also monitoring - she has an acute sense of hearing and will inform you the moment she hears a change in our signals - however minute. When she tells you - you lock on and beam us all up together!"

„Aye, sir!" Scotty opened his mouth - and shut it again. The captain had just given a very clear order.

The tingle of the transporter beam took hold of Kirk and for the short time the actual dissembling and reassembling took, he felt free of the unknown force that seemed to be pushing against him. The moment he was able to move again on the planet's surface, that nameless and formless something picked up its battering.

Spock noticed the brief relaxation on his friend's face and then the tension returning as soon at the beam released them. Tentatively he reached out to Kirk through their faint link and was disturbed to find that Kirk slammed up a shield, cutting himself off from the Vulcan. Nothing they had yet experienced together had made Kirk do that. Spock blinked, and applied himself to the task in hand, telling himself that it was illogical to feel - rejected.

The medical and science staff beamed down and soon Kirk was in his element - discovering a 'new' world. He was glad when Pavel insisted that he be the one to guard the captain. Spock was already peering closely at his tricorder readings, and McCoy was in close conference with the medical team. Kirk activated his own tricorder and set it for picking up anything that could conceivably have been a building.

„Chekov, you and I will go this way!" He casually threw over his shoulder as he set off.

„Jim!" McCoy yelled.

„What?"

„Where are you off to?"

„While you look for life forms or what's left of them, I'm checking something out back here. I'll call you if there's anything interesting."

„Spock?"

„Yes, Doctor?"

„Aren't you going along?"

„I see no reason to."

McCoy shut his mouth. If Spock were human, he would have said he was sulking. But Spock isn't human, and Vulcans don't sulk, he chided himself. Still, both Kirk and Spock were acting strangely. He hoped he wouldn't have to pull medical rank again, slap them both into sickbay under guard and assume command of the ship.

Chekov pulled his phaser and with suspicious eyes peered into the dense undergrowth as he and Kirk pushed their way through it. Even though his tricorder told him there were no life-forms that could do them any harm, he felt a cloying sense of unease. Maybe he was taking his new position a little too seriously?

They arrived at the place Kirk's tricorder had indicated and stopped dead. There had been a complete village here. The houses were made of wattle and mud with thatched rooves.

Kirk pointed his scanner at them and after a couple of seconds whistled: „These houses are three hundred years old."

„But they have not been lived in for nearly two hundred." Pavel Chekov was intent on his own tricorder.

Kirk turned round his own axis, surveying the village. „It looks like this place was left in a big hurry."

There was a disorderly look to the place which had nothing to do with the partial decay of the houses and the overgrown 'streets'. Doors were open, some just left slightly ajar, others wide open, the same with the windows.

Kirk peered into through the door of the closest building. There was even more disarray: overturned chairs, trunks left open, even eating implements and cooking pots were strewn all over the floor. He moved on to the next house. Here there was a cooking pot hung over a fire, a table neatly laid as if for a meal and overturned chairs, as if the inhabitants had fled from the table in the middle of eating.

He walked in through the door and peered in the pot. There was a solid mass in the bottom of it - maybe it would give them a clue as to what people had lived here. He flipped open his communicator.

„Kirk to McCoy!"

„Yes, Jim?"

„We've found something that might interest you."

„What?"

„Come and see - and bring Spock with you - this is right up his street!" He shut the communicator slowly giving Spock and McCoy time to lock onto his bearing.

He was three houses along when he heard McCoy's voice yelling his name. He stuck his head out of a window and called him over.

„Bones! Come and run a medi-scanner over this lot!"

The doctor hurried into the house. „What happened here?" he asked.

„That's what we're trying to find out!" Kirk's impatience returned fast.

„Okay, keep your shirt on!" Bones grumbled, hiding his alarm. He activated his tricorder.

„Decomposed gruel made of several kinds of grain - they added berries and nuts to it, and something rather like honey."

„Cooked in water or milk?"

„I assume some form of milk - there evidence of animal fats."

Spock observed: „These people were not vegetarians."

„Not to the extent of Vulcans", McCoy agreed. „Nothing here indicates they ate meat, though."

The captain held up a rotting garment. „They made clothes of leather - which means they must have killed animals. I've never heard of a race which kills only for clothing, so I guess they must have eaten the odd steak."

Spock took the garment gingerly and studied the seams. „They also used dried gut to sew with - plant fiber would have rotted away by now."

„Keptin!" Chekov's voice conveyed no urgencey. Kirk stuck his head back out of the window.

„Yes, Pavel?"

„I think you should see this, sir!"

„We're coming!" The captain withdrew his head and headed for the door.

Spock and McCoy followed. The security officer was in the largest house in the village. There was an opened trunk in the middle of the great hall and in it were all kinds of weapons.

„All veapons have poisoned tips!" Chekov warned before Kirk's hand closed round a spear.

„Poison?" The Russian nodded.

McCoy activated his tricorder. „Deadly stuff", he agreed. Nobody even smiled at his pun. „Lethal if it enters the bloodstream directly. It stops the heart and brain immediately and irreversibly - and its absolutely harmless if you swallow the stuff. Very sophisticated."

Thoughtfully the four men split up and searched the remainder of the village. When they met again, Kirk invited them to speak their minds.

Spock began: „There is no evidence of greater science. No obvious means of transport. I discovered a smithy where the spear points and blades were manufactured. All dwellings are in the same state of disorder as the one we met you in, captain."

„Bones?"

„Nothing that would resemble a doctor's surgery or even an apothecary. No large food stores, nor storage containers. I would guess the inhabitants were bipeds, possibly humanoids judging by the chairs and tables. They must have had hands with at least one opposing digit to be able to sew, eat with implements and make weapons. It would be useful to have some remains to work on.

„Oh - and whatever else they looked like, this race was about seven feet tall - unless they liked to have their feet dangling at least a foot above ground when they sat in chairs and wore their tunics to the ground. They were capable of delicate handiwork. I couldn't tell you if they were scaly, furry or had skin like humans or even were covered in feathers."

„Chekov?"

„All veapons vere in the central house. There is nothing like a prison or punishment area. There are no locking dewices on any trunks, vindows or doors. Only the pens over there have a means of securing them." The Russian couldn't believe what he had seen. „Is it possible, that they trusted each other so completely?" he added in a wondering tone.

„On Vulcan we do not require locks", Spock reminded him.

„Oh." Chekov looked crushed for having forgotten that.

„Do you know what I found most odd? There is no evidence of records of any kind - no drawings, no writings, no sacred place where scripts are kept", the Captain mused.

„Every race we've ever encountered has some form of keeping their history alive", his First Officer said evenly.

„Could it have been destroyed by whoever wiped the inhabitants out?" The doctor threw in.

„They'd have to be extremely thorough - they must have missed something." Kirk had lost his snappiness.

„Suppose these people handed their history down verbally - like old African tribes used to, back on Earth hundreds of years ago?" McCoy speculated.

„But even they had some artifacts to use in their rituals and to keep the memories alive. - Even Vulcans with their phenomenal memories have kept written records", Kirk pointed out. „Could the people have destroyed them before they themselves were killed - or taken?"

„Possibly", Spock said slowly.

McCoy's communicator beeped. „Yes?" he asked after flipping it open.

„We've found something, sir - maybe the captain should look at it as well."

„We'll be right there."

Chekov took the direction off the signal and led them back through the village to their landing site, and then down a hidden pathway which somehow hadn't become overgrown. They ended up beside a deep, clear pool.

„Over here!" a blue-shirted figure beckoned them.

They walked round the pool and stopped short at the sight of the bleached skeleton. McCoy and Spock both started their tricorders, gathering what information they could.

At the same time, the doctor hunkered down and inspected the remains. „Well, he's definately dead, Jim." His attempt at humor didn't raise even the ghost of a smile on his friend's lips.

„Well, Bones? What can you tell us about him?" Kirk asked impatiently.

„I'm a doctor not a psychic!" the older man muttered as he continued to examine the skeleton. His eyebrows shot up as he inspected the skull, but he continued to methodically do the job he was trained for. Finally he straightened. „I think we have a clue here, to what's been going on."

„Well spit it out!"

„I would guess that this is an inhabitant indigenous to this planet. Biped, two opposing digits, six feet, 10 inches tall, mixed diet, though mainly vegetarian. He was murdered - see here-" he indicated where the spine had been snapped. „-this would render him incapable of movement."

„That's not murder", Kirk pointed out.

„No, but surgically removing part of the skull and scraping out the brain is."

„Could that not have happened to the body? A predator perhaps." Spock asked cooly, masking his distaste.

„The brain was scraped out of the still-living body. Sure it was a predator, Spock - the whole damn bunch of them who came here and killed off all the people! - The skull was opened carefully, with some kind of surgical instrument, not by some hungry animal!" The doctor picked up the piece which had been removed and showed it to them.

„Wasn't there some myth or other on Earth that removing certain parts of the enemy's anatomy gave the vanquisher extra strengths or skills?" Kirk mused.

„Cannibalism?" Spock asked.

„Oh, not necessarily to _eat_, Spock. Usually just the fact that the organ or limb had been removed would do the trick."

„Jim, there were some tribes who did eat their enemies", McCoy pointed out.

„There were?"

„Mmm - your Indian ancestors for one - not _every_ tribe, but some did. And African native tribes used to at one point in history as did some of the Amazon Indians."

„Are you sure about that, Bones?" the captain asked dubiously.

„When we get back to the ship I'll look it up for you. We have an extensive historical database, thanks to Spock. It'll be there somewhere."

„So you are saying, Doctor, that the brain of this person was eaten?"

„No. But I'm not saying it wasn't. It's a possibility."

„A guess?" Spock enquired in a bland voice,

McCoy shot the Vulcan a hard look. „A guess. Intuition. Hell, a _feeling_, for all I care."

„Bones - if these people were overly gifted in the brain department, would that be a reason for the cannibalism - or mutilation?"

„Could be - or else the attackers think they might gain powers by such methods."

„Anybody we know?"

Spock shook his head. „Negative, Jim. No known species has any ritual or belief than could result in this."

„Any rumors flying round?"

„None." Spock knew that this was not the time to be literal with his friend.

„Back to square one then." Kirk's voice sounded heavy.

„If we find more bodies like this, we'll have learned something. And if we can't get enough answers, we go to their next port of call. Simple." McCoy forced his voice to a lightness he didn't feel. In fact, he was beginning to feel a cold dread creep up on him. His suggestion seemed to shake Kirk alert again.

„Right, Bones." He pulled out his communicator. „Kirk to Enterprise."

„Yes Captain?" Uhura's voice answered.

„Get Sulu and Pl'jialk to find us another village - preferably with fresh water someway removed from it - and then have N'grodth beam us there in the same order we were beamed down here."

„Yes, sir."

Kirk waved Chekov, his two guards and the three science staff closer. He had just explained their plan of action when the transporter took Chekov and his two men. A minute later Kirk rematerialized in a similar spot to the one they'd left, and a minute after that the landing party was once again complete.

„Spread out - look for bones!" Kirk ordered. A couple of the science personnel chuckled at his unintentional double entendre.

It took them thirty minutes of fine-combing the overgrowth, but finally another skeleton was discovered. Its injuries were identical, down to the missing brain.

„Third time for certainty?" Kirk asked. His friends nodded grimly. He called his ship, made the request and they found a third victim, confirming their suspicions.

„Landing party ready to beam aboard!" Chekov informed the transporter engineer. She beamed up the captain, McCoy and Spock first, followed by the medical staff, and finally Chekov and his men.


End file.
